Alexey Malobrodsky was Gogol Center CEO between 2013 and 2015 before he was dismissed "for allowing financial irregularities in the activities of the Moscow cultural institution."

The former director of Gogol Center was detained in Moscow. The Investigative Committee confirmed he had been detained as part of the investigation into the criminal case of budget funds embezzlement. He is suspected of fraud on an especially large scale while working as general producer of the Seventh Studio, founded by film director Kirill Serebrennikov.

Alexey Malobrodsky was Gogol Center CEO between 2013 and 2015 before he was dismissed "for allowing financial irregularities in the activities of the Moscow cultural institution." The situation was never reported on to the law enforcement agencies, as the Moscow department of culture considered that he had simply "trusted the wrong people and signed the wrong papers."

As our readers may remember, earlier it was Seventh Studio former head Yuri Itin and former chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva who got the large-scale Swindling charges (part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code).

According to investigators, the organization's leaders stole $3.4m of budget funds allocated for the promotion of art. Maslyaeva admitted to cashing $1.7m for Seventh Studio through one-day firms that belonged to her friend Valery Sinelnikov. In addition, the accountant stated that she had been specifically hired for fraud works.

As part of the investigation into this case, security officials conducted searches in Kirill Serebrennikov’s apartment, as well as at the Gogol Center Theater he runs. Serebrennikov is a witness in the case.